Safety attachment for automobiles



June l2, i923. L45825 J. M. ALTER y SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES Patented .lune 12, lM1923.

inserer JULIUS 1v1. 393133, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR AUTMOBLES.

npplicaton led February 20, 1922. Serial No. 537,855.

'To @ZZ 'LU/wm it may concern:

Be it known that l, JULrUs M. ALTER, a citizen of Russia, residing at New York city, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Safety Attachments for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to safety appliances for vehicles and especially road vehicles such as automobiles or other cars.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a device in the nature of a fender carried upon the front portion of a vehicle and normally elevated slightly above the ground or roadway, but which when striking an obstacle will drop instantly to the ground and so receive thereon the obstacle witha high degree of safety.

More specifically stated the primary aim of this invention is to so equip an automobile that in case a person should be accidentally struck by the machine the resulting injury to such person would in all probability not be much more severe than a fright or perhaps a few bruises, whereas under ordinary circumstances the person is usually run over and seriously injured if not killed.

A further object of the invention is .to provide a safety appliance for automobiles comprising a strong receiving member and having means for carrying it elevated slightly above the ground and a trip member also in advance of the receiving member so as to be first struck by the-obstacle for tripping and releasing the receiving member so that the whole will drop promptly to the ground and compel the reception of the obstacle safely upon the receiving member.

A still further object ofy the invention is to provide brake members for co-operation with the vehicle wheels, said brake members being carried by some movable portion of the safety'appliance, such as the receiving member aforesaid, and so are brought into gripping contact with said wheels and the ground or track when the receiving mechanism drops as aforesaid.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section approximately on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a sectional detail on the line l--d of Fig. 2. v

Referring now more specifically to the drawings which indicate an application of my improvement to the front portion of an automobile, 10 indicates the front axle having wheels 11 connected thereto as usual, and supporting a frame 12 through springs 13. 1t will be understood that the parts thus far specified may be of any conventional design or construction.

14- indicates a strong bar extending across in front of the frame and having side portions 15 substantially lll-shaped and terminating in rearwardly projecting ends 16 shown as secured in any suitable manner to the frame bars 12. The form or construction of the member 1d will naturally depend upon the specific design or type of the frame to which it is to be connected. It is desirable however that the bar 14: shall constitute for many purposes a bumper for effectually guarding the usual front parts of the machine such as the lamps, the radiator, the wheel fenders, or the like, and so when used will take theA place of a bumper as l otherwise ordinarily used.

Fastened preferably to the central part of the bar 14 is a hanger comprising a bracket 17 to the lower end of which is pivoted at 18 a trigger or hook 19 including` a turn buckle 20 for determining the effective length thereof. rlhe lower end of the hook is geirtended at 21 below the point 22 of the hook. The trigger includes a rearwardly extending arm 28 in the nature of a bell crank. Above this bell crank is a bracket 211 secured to the rear face of the bar 14, and between the bell crank and the bracket is an expansion spring 25 normally urging the trigger downward and forward.

The above mentioned receiver constituting v above the axis of the lwheels 11. Adjacent to each wheel is abrale shoe 29 rigidly secured to and suspended from'the'receiver 26, the same being attached to the under side of the receiver through connections 30 and 31, the 'latter including a 'pair of' leading forward' "from4 the lowerend oft the shoes toward the 'front' Aand bottom portion of the receiver where they are attached at 3 2. These shoes are normally carriedadj'acent to the tread portions ofthe wheels but sufiiciently remote therefrom not to interfere with the free running fof the wheels.` The shoes are made/preferablywide enough to cover the 'wheels even though the wheels' may be steered laterally forturning purposes. Each shoeincludes alsoA 'a track or road vgrip 29a rigid therewith, the shoe ya whole' :being so designed that when the receiver drops.l the shoe will engage the wheel whereby the shoe will be caused' to come intol direct contact with the ground or road causing ana'dditionalvbraking action and relatively siidden stoppage of the vehicle. Because the pivots 27' are located'as 'described wlieiithe rreceiver' drops toward the ground theshoes swingV sharply downward 'with respect4 to the pivots 27 and'int'o gripping contact with the' tread'portions ofthe-wheels; The re? ceive'r is shown reinforced or'stifened alongl its vertical'central portion witha channel l formation 33 and adjacent to thecentral part of th'e receiver isfor ted a vertical slot 34C through which the trigger 19 pr'ects andv with tliefront'end wallportiono the slot acting vnormally withv the hoo'lr22 lfor hold-1v ing up the 'safety'appliance 'inl normal run'- ning' position. Attached to the bottom of the receiver and constituting apart thereof is a plate 35 the bottomv lportionfof'which is fla-t and horizontal while'the side Yportions 36 are curved upward following the' 'upward trend of the` receiver. The rear portion of this plate 35Y isy consequently generally formed as shown in Fig. 3 making with 'the channel 26 a guidewhich is rectangular in cross section.

ln front of and above the front portion of they receiverris trip mecanism comprising a horizontal bar 37 whose ends 'are attached'to the frontA ends of apair of telescopic arms 38 pivoted at any convenient points at their rear ends7 as in the U-memb'ersL 15 "of the bumper, at the points 39. The bar 37 is preferably covered with rubber l0 or the like constituting cushionsI but which are preferably held from rotation thereon and which when coming into contactv withthe ground, as shown" in dotted lines in rig. 1, Wai assist 'in' bringing ai@ f may chine 'quickly vto stop while, the' same time compelling the obstacle being struck to be received on top of the receiver. 'Atcached to the central lportion of the bar 37 and extending rearward therefrom is a plunger Zl1' which projects all the way through the guideway between the channel 26'a'n`d' the plate-35 into close proximity with the finger extension 21 of the trigger. p rlvhis plunger is shown providedwith'ahok VL l2 whichcooperating with the rear edgeof the plate Swili prevent the' trip mechanism from moving too far forward. the spring 25 acts to hold the trigger l'olredas shownvv in full lines in Fig. l the finger portion 21 thereof will lie substantially against the rear end 01'. the rlune'efhellilis the 11,9915 .ll-2 against the platey 'llfhe'n thfe 'obstacle SStrLiCk by the trie mechanism the Cross bar '37 thereof willy moved `loacki'ivard Sl-,i-eltly, vil be permitted by the' telescopiiig of vthe parts. of the arms V38,"causingfhsrby the 'plunger t0, more bekvell throwing the trigger against the lforwc'ey of the. Serine* 25 and' Sb. permitting the. receiver te drop to the. ground. `The`relativelyslight extent of rearward inovement'necessary lfp;- the plunger to trip thetriggeii inedhaznism may be readily provided for witha slight lo'seness. between lthe .plunger AandA guide-way, taking into` account` that during. this initial movementof the trip it may be caused 'to move" toward the pivots 39 1S WGH. 4S towel-id thstfgeir! After 17e?. leasel howeverof theJ trigger all "arts of the"mechan' ffbel ow tliehanger 17" and triggeriswing downward lpractically asuma; Whole, but eleund the We axes 27 and. 3.9i' The' une were 'SS' f @trams a8. merbe'transvrssy @erected and biased' by a bei 435 vins the a'sse. @battles rivet, portions th'ereofcan not become detach ffm thei bearings.. This. bal" 4.3 more" may 'beu'tlized es. ani abwehren@ fer blt neuerer.' 'fef'pftoe'ef 2.1, het 44. @steering thence V'forward and downward to thetriw mechanism ST lrlihis net iiifiise'will'serve t to`r`ediice theextent of injury toga 'eisen'A Wh@ may be rckeln births ettahlmet and itwill serve also 'to bridge the Abre-v tweennthe trip bar and theg'flrlnt edge 'of' the receiver. Itwill be'noted that the trip irrechanisnr may b'ereianveiy iight and fr thisgptjifeg 'p may be madei of light materials"including parts of wood, and'eonseduently'the thereof 'against aperson who may be struck therebyT will be relatively slight and not ly'to cause severe injury.l "'Tliisf initialimI-- pact however lwill immediately trippy the safety mechanism to dr'on itto thej'mpisty fai'forable receiving posiftiidln. l V` im 't' I indicate the usual emergency,

while applying the emergency brakes in the usual manner. ln order to operate this brake mechanism automatically and as a result of the dropping of the fender mechanism above described l provide a flexible connection 46 suitably attached as at 47 to the receiver and which after being guided over any suitable direction pulleys such as at 48 may be attached as at 49 to the lever 45. These connections are so designed that with the drop of the receiver to the ground the weight thereof will be sufhcient, as will also the extent of movement thereof, to cause the setting of the standard emergency brake mechanism auto-matically.

I claim:

l. In a safety attachment as set forth, the combination with a frame and a bumper bar carried thereby, of a receiver pivoted to the frame and extending do-wnward and forward therefrom to a position close above the ground, means suspended from the bumper bar for holding the receiver normally elevated, and trip mechanism in advance of the receiver and movable rearward relatively thereto to release said suspended holding means when striking an article disposed in alignment with or above the position of the receiver close to the ground, said trip mechanism including a pair of side arms' having upper ends mounted for pivotal movement around a xed axis, a cro-ss bar extending between the front ends of the arms, and a brace extending between the mid portions of the arms and serving to hold the p-ivot po-rtions of the rarms in place.

2. A safety attachment for automobiles comprising in combination with a pair of frame members and abumper bar connected thereto, a hanger extending downward from the central portionof the bumper and including a trigger, means acting upon the trigger tending to hold the same forward, a receiver pivotally suspended at its rear end from the frame members and extending forward and downward therefrom and having a slot through which said trigger projects and whereby the receiveris normall held elevated, and trip mechanism includi ing a member movable rearward along the receiver to disengage the trigger from holding position, said receiver including a guideway and the member movable therealong being a. plunger guided in said guideway.

3. Mechanism as set forth in claim 2 in which the plunger has means coacting .with the guide member to limit the relative forward movement of the trip mechanism with respect to the receiver.

ln testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

JULrUs M. ALTER. 

